Headers of the type mentioned in the introduction are used in agriculture to cut stalk crops, e.g., corn, from a field and to feed these crops to a field chopper carrying the header, where the plants are chopped and discharged into a receptacle on a trailer. Such headers usually have a number of row-independent mowing and take-in devices arranged laterally one next to the other in the form of drums rotating about the vertical axis with indentations or notches distributed around their edges, in which the plant stalks are held, and mowing disks, which are mounted underneath the drums and which are used for cutting the plant stalks from the ground.
If the plants are very ripe, the ears can be separated from the stalk just by slight vibrations. Such vibrations occur especially when the plant is received by the header or when it is deflected in its further path through the header. The goal is to let as few ears fall to the ground as possible and thus be lost to the harvesting process.
To prevent such losses, EP 1 234 493 A proposes to mount catches on the top side of the mowing and take-in devices, which grip the ears that are separated from the plant stalks during the harvesting process or during transport through the header and which fall onto the top side of the mowing and take-in devices. The plant stalks are pushed downwards by covers from the top sides of the mowing and take-in devices and are led back into the crop stream. This invention is suitable essentially for headers with mowing and take-in devices that have flat top sides. In addition, a cover of the mowing and take-in devices is required, which can have a disadvantageous effect on the conveyance action of the mowing and take-in device, because the covered regions of the mowing and take-in device do not have a transporting effect on the crops.
The task forming the basis of the invention is to create a compact header for mowing stalk crops, in which the ear losses are held low and the disadvantages mentioned above are not present at all or only to a minimal degree.